She is still, after all of these years, haughty and aloof. She observes us from a distance; from doorways and corners, countertops and shadows. She eyes the exits, has an escape route in mind; is always prepared, and on the verge of bolting. She studies us at night as we feign sleep, alights from the bedpost, creeps closer as we avoid eye contact; watches us as we watch her; all parties present in a stand off of half raise eyelids; none of us prepared to give up the ruse; be the first to blink. We are unaware of the battle … Continue reading Secret Admirer

Day gave up her reign reluctantly. She surrendered the sky slowly and in stages. In fits and starts. Gasps and shudders and stillness. She held onto the middle ground; tried to reason and compromise with; made a mockery of, and angered the moon. She did not go gently into the night. As the Earth turned East she was forced West. She did not go down without a fight, or simply run away. That is what is meant to be remembered. She kicked and clawed and dragged the process out. Pieces of moonlight mix with her rays. Glow fluorescent under black … Continue reading Daylight Fading

The air is electric. I hear it crackle in the lines overhead. Feel the hair on my forearms and the nape of my neck start to rise. Hear a rumble in the distance; see a flash in the sky. Sense the army of towers stand a little taller, square their shoulders, stand their ground, as the clouds move in and claim the sky. Continue reading The Stand Off

”May the road rise up to meet you….” starts the blessing of my people. But….. I am not so sure, as well intentioned as this sentiment is, that it is indeed a blessing and not in fact a curse. A road that always rises, that meets you when you stumble, that catches you when you fall, that imbues you with bravado not earned; does no favors, teaches no lessons, builds no character. It is in the scabbed knees and scars that we learn. It is in the picking up of ones self, the reassembling of the pieces, that one sees … Continue reading The Road….

His trusting nature and curiosity give him away. I am on alert for speed traps that have sprouted up over the weekend; ease my foot off of the gas even as the music blaring from the speakers urges me to go faster. Ears prick, head lifts as my car, fully fueled from the station down the road; offering only one grade of gas, or diesel, rounds the bend. In the pause between caution and recklessness, he gives himself away. Senses the thin barrier between conformity and freedom. Eyes the spilt rail fence keeping him confined. As he ambles towards it, … Continue reading Hide and Seek

I had a “to do” list written in ink when the morning started to darken. Clouds moved in rapidly, and quickly took over the sky. There were screeches and laughter and the sound of running feet as fat drops of rain started to fall and those outside, caught equally unaware, scrambled for cover. I closed the notebook I had been filling with “things I have to do,” put it to the side and clicked my pen closed. I felt guilt creep in as I remembered all of the times I had put my child off, telling him we would go … Continue reading What Will Wait